The Chemist
by MissTigerLilly
Summary: A young chemist creates a drug to give super-human abilities to users (e.g. super-strength and agility). The Avengers are sent to stop the chemist from selling the recipe, but her mistaken belief they work for an old enemy will have dire consequences. Eventual Bruce Banner x Original Female Character romance. Some swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is set after the first Avengers Movie, and before Captain America: Winter Soldier, so S.H.I.E.L.D is still in operation. ENJOY!**

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><p>"What do you wanna call it?" asked a young man with pale skin and a shaved head, his voice thin and raspy.<br>"I'm thinking Upgrade, or Level Up, I dunno, something…"  
>"Modern?" coughed the pale man.<br>"Marv, you know me too well" the dark-haired girl sighed, leaning back against the wall and taking a swig from the bottle in her hand.  
>"So, how 'bout we go with Upgrade, sound good?" wheezed Marv as he took a drag from a cigarette. The girl nodded as she drank. "And we'll write that on the packet too, okay?" Marv added.<br>"Yep" the girl replied, "What do you think we should print on 'em?"  
>Marv leaned back and stared at the ceiling, trying to glean inspiration from the opulent room in which he sat.<br>"Well, with the limited room, you'd only really fit, say, two letters" Marv began, his mind swimming in smoky haze.  
>"So, we'll go with an image" the girl suggested, looking over to Marv, communicating with her eyes that he <em>needed<em> to have an idea.  
>"An arrow? Like an 'up' arrow, like 'Upgrade'?" Marv coughed, nodding as he saw a smile forming on the girl's face, "and we'll press a Lotus into the back." Marv paused, "Oh, and, do you want 'em purple?"<br>The girl turned to him, her dark eyes meeting his and locking them in a stare.  
>"Marv, you know this. They aren't purple, they're <em>lilac,<em> and if they're not lilac, they're not ours. It's a quality guarantee", the girl purred, as she turned on her heel and left the room.

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><p>"People" shouted Nick Fury, demanding quiet from the chattering congregation, "You have a new objective." The small group seated around the table ceased their conversations and turned their eyes to Fury's piercing stare.<br>"A new drug has been released onto the market" Fury began, speaking slowly and letting his gaze move around the table. Tony rolled his eyes. "Is there a problem, Stark?" Fury demanded.  
>"Isn't, you know, the local drug ring, a <em>little <em>below our usual, um-"  
>"Shut your hole!" screamed Fury, interrupting Tony.<br>"This drug isn't any ordinary drug. It enhances human abilities and experiences, producing somewhat 'superhuman' abilities in those who take it. One of the side-effects of the drug however, is that it warps the user's senses and emotions, causing them to feel nervous and under-threat in even the most mundane of situations. So not only are drug users equipped with superhuman speed, agility, reflexes, strength and eyesight, but also superhuman anxiety and aggressiveness."  
>The group seated at the table began glancing at each other with grim faces and nervous eyes.<p>

"Okay" quipped Tony, "so there's a couple of geared-up people running around the city. We take 'em out, and take the drug off the streets, maybe make a trip to whoever's making it…" he paused suggestively.  
>"In theory Tony, that's great, but the manufacturer of this drug is a little different" began Bruce, flipping through the Briefing Package on the table in front of him.<br>"Usually, new manufacturers hold on tight to a recipe for as long as possible, creating demand, but also, limiting the spread. This group, they have a habit of selling their new recipes immediately. We need to know who else the recipe has been sold to, and also, what other drugs they have been producing. We can stop the spread in New York, but a world-wide spread of super-powered people would be impossible for us to stop. And we don't even know what the _other_ side effects are yet."

The group at the table nodded, all agreeing on the seriousness of the situation.  
>"I'll grab my laptop. The sales can be easily traced with a little know-how" smirked Tony.<br>"Something tells me it's not gonna be that easy, Tony" warned Natasha, leaning forward in her chair. She could see Bruce's frown and Fury shaking his head.  
>"Trust me Tony" said Fury, "Either their tech is so good, it's untraceable, or they're running their operation old-school."<br>"Old-school?" cried Tony.

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><p>"Ahrgh!" grunted the dark haired girl as she hurled herself towards a kickboxing bag, performing a series of kicks, punches and dodges.<br>"Why don't you take something like Upgrade when you're boxing? You could be like, Chuck Norris on crack" wheezed Marv, sitting in the corner of the gym, his eyes never leaving his laptop.  
>"Hun, I'm already Chuck Norris on crack" huffed the girl, "Plus, I don't wanna get addicted to that shit, it's fucking evil".<br>"But you're selling it!" squeaked Marv, his head shooting up to watch the girl. He was shocked to hear her say something like that about her own product.  
>"And I'm also looking to improve it" soothed the girl, hearing the anxiety in Marv's voice. She walked over to him, squatting down in front of him.<p>

"Ugh, girl, you are messed-up, but I ain't gonna tell you to stop selling 'em. Anyway, I'm thinking of having a party tonight. Some new sellers are in town, they made contact with me. They're interested in selling Upgrade. Oh, don't give me that look, girl. We might meet up at a club, have a little drink, and a little something else…" Marv cooed, bobbing his head and smiling.  
>"Oh my god, just promise me you'll only take the purple pills, only take ours, okay? We have standards when we produce, other people don't, okay?", cautioned the girl, her tone like that of a concerned parent.<br>Marv nodded, rolling his head to the side, giving the girl a serious look.  
>"Girl, I know we have a good rep in terms of quality control and product. You know, pricing and purity. And purple pills are our trademark thing. It's only a matter of time before other manufacturers start dying their pills purple too. You know that right?" Marv asked, his voice very serious.<br>"Hun, other manufacturers have _already _started dying their pills purple. What do you think I hire all those hit men for? Trust me, I keep the copy cats under control" smirked the girl. Marv gave her a dead-eyed stare.  
>"Girl, you are messed".<p>

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><p>"So how do you want us to find this drug?" asked Clint<br>"You'll be going to the source" Fury commanded, "But be warned, these people are good".  
>"Aren't they just, you know…" Tony began, nodding and gesturing, trying to find he words, "They're just a local ring. We're the Avengers".<br>Nick Fury pressed a button on a small remote he held in his hand. The screen at the opposite end of the room began lit up, before beginning to play video of a young boy, standing still and alone in a garbage lined alley. He held a tackle box in his hands, painted bright purple. A Lotus marked it's front.  
>"What are we meant to be watching?" asked Natasha, confused at the stillness of the security camera footage. Fury put his finger to his lips, and gestured to her to continue watching.<p>

Two police officers came into view on the screen, approaching the boy with arrogant strides. They began to talk to the boy, reaching for the box in his hands. Within seconds the boy had both officers on the ground, unconscious.  
>A collective gasp echoed through the room. No-one had been expecting the footage to show that particular series of events.<br>The boy, still holding the box, began kicking the bodies over to the sides of the alley, where the garbage sat, partly out of shot. The camera panned to follow the boy as he shifted the bodies. It slowly became clear that the garbage wasn't garbage at all. It was a collection of Policemen's bodies.  
>"That's a lot of policemen" said Bruce, looking around the room, "Why hasn't someone noticed such a large number of missing officers?"<br>"Because someone _did _notice. S.H.I.E.L.D. noticed. He's just a local dealer" began Fury, clicking off the screen and turning to face the Avengers, "You'll be going up against their trained guards".

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><p>"So, they wanted to meet <em>here<em>?" asked the dark haired girl as she pivoted in her seat and pulled at her own hands.  
>"Lilac, I've told you this a million times, yes, here, our house, not at a club, they want to meet <em>here<em>" groaned Marv, clearly annoyed at Lilac's anxiety.  
>"We never have guests", Lilac whined.<br>"That's because we never deal with Americans, you know that!" snapped Marv, pivoting and facing Lilac, gripping her wrists.  
>"It feels strange selling to someone on our own turf, you know?" Lilac sulked as she yanked her wrists from Marv's feeble grasp, and began spinning 'round and around in her chair, knowing she was being silly about the deal.<br>"I feel ya hun" sighed Marv, sliding onto the edge of her makeup chair and attempting to calm her, "but this is a lot of money".  
>"I know" Lilac agreed and relaxed into the plush chair, "Have you done background checks?"<br>"In the process of it" replied Marv quickly as he saw Lilac's eyes narrow in disapproval.

Lilac frowned at Marv, watching him skulk out of the room, knowing the checks should really have been run hours ago. Lilac dressed deliberately, a large purple wig with purple flowers through it, dark jeans, a plain blank tank top, a dark blue shawl wrapped round her shoulders. She pulled on her heavy steel toed boots, and tucked a knife into the right shoe, as well as strapping a knife to her left arm, concealed by the shawl. She tucked a gun into the back of her jeans, and two small purple pills into her pocket. Just in case.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review!<strong>

**A/N: I know there was a lot of dialogue and not much action in this chapter, but (lots) more action is on it's way!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Woohoo! Some action! I hope you enjoy!**

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><p>"Lilac!"<p>

"LILAC!"  
>"Yes, Marv!" replied Lilac, mimicking his panicked tone. He was running down the hall to meet her.<br>"We picked something up on the background check", he panted, leaning down to grasp his knees.  
>"What?" asked Lilac, her tone slow and suspicious as she watched his frail form.<br>"Nothing", wheezed Marv.  
>"Nothing?" Lilac replied slowly, fixing Marv in place with her eyes.<br>"Yeah, that's the problem, this dealer doesn't have any footprint whatsoever. Li, either they're too small to _possibly_ have the kind of money they're offering, or they're not really who they say they are. In which case, they probably aren't coming here for a deal" Marv gasped and spluttered as he tried to catch his breath.  
>"Ok" said Lilac, her forehead creased in a frown as she contemplated what to do. "Cancel the party. Tell them we're sorry for any inconvenience etcetera etcetera, but also warn them, okay? Anyone who arrives at our house tonight arrives as an enemy. Batten down the hatches, I'll tell the guards to shoot anyone who approaches" Lilac commanded in a level and serious tone. She turned to Marv, who was beginning to hyperventilate. "You got that, Marv?" she yelled.<br>"I'm kinda freaked" Marv whimpered.

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><p>"Stark!"<br>"Yeeeeess?" replied the man in a cocky tone.  
>"We've received a response from the manufacturers. They have <em>declined <em>our invitation. They say that anyone who arrives on their premises tonight will be treated as an enemy" said Fury, trying to impress upon Tony that this wasn't going to be easy, their feeble attempt at fooling the drug manufacturers had failed. Tony nodded and went back to fiddling with his laptop, his nonchalance grating on Fury's nerves. After a few minutes of silence, Fury snapped.  
>"Stark, tell everyone to suit up."<br>"It would be my pleasure" smirked Tony.

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><p>"Li?"<br>"Yes Marv?"  
>"Wh- where are the birds?" Marv whispered.<br>"Marv, we're in a house, there aren't any birds." Lilac turned and looked at Marv's shivering form. "Are you high?" she asked him. Marv ignored her question and kept talking.  
>"No, I mean, outside. Usually I can hear the birds in the trees outside. But today, there's nothing. It's like someone's scared them off"<br>"Maybe one of the neighbours bought a cat" replied Lilac, sipping on a bright drink through a loopy straw.  
>"Something's not right" Marv demanded, shaking his head at Lilac's calmness.<br>"Marv, did you take an Upgrade, or just smoke some pot, hey? Why are you so paranoid?"  
>"Li, something is wrong. Something is wrong" Marv repeated, curling his knees to his chest.<br>Lilac checked her watch.  
>"It's 8.33. The latest security check should have been called in 3 minutes ago, Marv, and I haven't heard a word" Lilac said, trying not to buy into Marv's anxiety.<p>

"Li, what if it's something to do with that drug, Dream Girl? Remember, we told the dealer he could sell it worldwide, but not to the US. He might be coming to sever the contract… and some limbs"  
>"Hun, nobody's that stupid. He's a drug dealer. If he want to sell to the US, he will. Who would I report him too for breaking our contract? He knows that deal is practically a joke" Lilac spoke softly, trying to calm Marv.<br>"No, Lilac, I'm certain it's him. I know it sounds silly. He just seems like the kind of guy who takes care of his problems with violence. I mean, Li, his stupid dealer name was Max Gun. We sound like flowery poofs compared to him. Lilac Lotus? Why did you name this company Lilac Lotus? Don't you think we could have rubbed him the wrong way with that deal?" Marv said, twitching with anxiety as he spoke.  
>"Marv-" Lilac began, exasperated with Marv's paranoia. She patted him on the shoulder, attempting to pull him into a hug.<br>"Fuck you Lilac! You're not even taking me seriously. I need to take something. I'm too freaked".  
>"No, Marv!" shouted Lilac as Marv shuffled down the hall, "Don't go crazy, ok?"<p>

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><p>"… highly guarded, not highly fortified. Your aim is to capture key members of the group, and incapacitate guards. We have little intel on who's in-charge of the group except for the name 'Lilac', but that's most likely not <em>a real <em>name_. _So search the whole house, anyone who doesn't look like a guard, make an effort not to kill, okay?" Fury asked the group, all of whom were fidgeting with anticipation. He smiled at them, huddled together and armed to the teeth, and gestured for them to leave. With shuffling steps the group piled out of the room, Fury snagging Natasha's arm as she tried to leave. She turned to him with a surprised expression.  
>"Check Tony's pockets later, okay Natasha?<p>

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><p>"Marv?" whispered Lilac, her voice trembling as she heard a yell from down the corridor. She grabbed Marv's shoulder and shook him, trying to wake him up.<br>"You are so stupid Marv" she quietly sobbed, as she rolled him onto his side and checked his airways were clear. He'd been so nervous earlier that night, and Lilac was afraid that he had been right.  
>She had told her crew to prepare for lockdown, and put her guards on high alert. Lilac's face shrivelled with sadness when she thought about them. Lilac Lotus sounded like such a professional setup, when really their whole operation was run by a highly-trained and well-loved few.<br>The crashing of furniture echoed throughout the house, as did the startled yells of the inhabitants of the lower levels. She heard heavy boots ascend the stair to the top floor, and a mechanical whir followed by a peppering of bullets from further down the hall.

Lilac scrambled back, and her breathing quickened. She was nervous, scared, but trying to think rationally. She'd been in the business since she finished Year 11 Chemistry, she'd seen some horrific things happen to people over the years, and some bad shit had been done to her too. She had the scars to prove it. She heard the footsteps down the hall growing louder. Shaking, she reached for the pills in her pocket. She tipped them onto her hand and swallowed them both dry, gagging as they slid down her throat. The first was an Upgrade pill, endowing her with super-powered strength, agility, and almost all other skills. The other was a new pill she'd been developing, designed to mitigate the negative side-effects of Upgrade by deactivating the part of the brain that felt fear.

She hadn't tested the second pill before. She knew all the scientific principles to allow it to work were solid, but she hadn't run human trials yet. Research told her that in almost all situations, deactivating such essential parts of the brain resulted in poorly judged and dangerous decisions, but the debilitating paranoia and anxiety caused by Upgrade would cripple anyone in a fight.

Lilac heard the heavy footsteps grow louder in the hallway. Someone was coming closer, closer, closer to her room. The drugs she had taken began to kick in: she felt her heart-rate quicken, her eyes focus, her brain sharpen, her muscles tense. She pushed Marv's body behind a dressing screen and began to assess the room. Without fear to push her onwards, Lilac was left with only logical thinking to guide her drug-fuelled super-strength.

Lilac's brain began ticking over. She should have listened to Marv. These must be Max Gun's people, here to kill her, or imprison her. She'd be trapped in a hole working as a slave for the rest of her life. But she wouldn't let them take her. No, she would fight to her last breath, with all her strength, with all her will, to avenge Marv. He knew Max Gun was coming. If she'd listened, she could have saved Marv's life.

Lilac pushed the heavy oak bookshelf across the room and jammed it in-front of the door. She heard the door knob click and snap as someone tried to get in. Lilac pressed her body against the book shelf, attempting to give it some more power to resist whoever would try to enter the room. With a loud sizzle, a sharp burst of laser shot through the door and the bookshelf, hitting Lilac square in the chest. Lilac screamed as she fell backwards and writhed as flame licked at her arms. She began to drag herself backwards, sobbing and twitching as she tried to get away from the source of the laser.

Heavy clunking footsteps echoed through the house as a red and gold robot walked through the doors and into the burning room. Lilac ignored the pain in her arms as she scrambled to her feet and whipped the gun out of her waistband. With shaky aim, Lilac attempted to line up the gun for a shot at the robo'ts head, but before she could pull the trigger the robot shot the weapon from her hands with a lasery blast.  
>"Nice try" the robot, who apparently wasn't a robot, quipped.<br>The robot-man began advance slowly towards her, his weaponised arms outstretched towards her.

They both stood momentarily frozen, neither sure what the next move was, gunfire from the lower levels of the building ringing in their ears.  
>"Okay, so-" the metal man began, but was interrupted by his walkie-talkie. It was set to a high enough volume for Lilac to hear what the woman on the other end was saying.<br>"House is clear except for top floor, guards unconscious or deceased, other household members are in captivity or deceased on own terms".  
>The metal-man turned away, unable to meet Lilac's shining eyes.<br>"Roger that" he said, his voice calm and level. Lilac felt her heart snap in two. Everyone she knew and cared about was dead or locked up because she was too stupid to listen to Marv. She had to escape. She had to rescue them from Max Gun's men, or at least not be captured herself. Her eyes flitted around the room in search of weaponise-able items.

"I know that sounded bad" the metal man said, moving towards her slowly, "but I'm really a good g-"  
>A metal deck chair hit the robot man's helmet, leaving only a tiny scratch as it bounced off and clanged against the floor. His eyes narrowed.<br>"A chair?" he laughed, advancing towards her, "You really wanna play?" A gun slid out from the metal man's arm. Lilac turned with super-reflexes and ran across the room, crying as each point of laser fire hit her limbs, sizzling her flesh. Even with the effects of an Upgrade, she wasn't quick enough. She dove under the bed, her burnt flesh sliding along the floor as she went. She cried out in pain as she crawled out the far side of the bed and turned it on it's side as a shield.

With her Upgrade-enhanced strength, she hurled the heavy oaken bedside table at the robot man, hitting his arm and crashing through the small laser gun. She continued grabbing at heavy furniture, hurling it towards him as her arms wept bloody tears. Although his suit was a little dinted, her attacks seemed to have little effect at all. She panted as she looked around the room, biting her lip as she realised there was no furniture left within reach. _What should I do? _She crouched behind the cast-iron bed, before lifting it over her head and advancing towards the robot man. Lilac's burnt arms shook, her breathing loud and rapid as she walked towards him.

The metal man's eyes widened and he glanced nervously at the door.  
>"Steve!" yelled the metal man into his walkie-talkie, "I'm trying to avoid using lethal force, but there is some serious crazy on level 3!"<p>

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><p><strong>I'd<strong> **love to get some feedback on how you're liking the story so far, so please leave a review!**

**Also, the jumping between Lilac's POV and Shield's POV is going to get less and less. I think it'll become mainly Lilac's POV. **

**That being said- if you loved the style, tell me, and if you hated it, tell me too!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far. Please review!  
>Some swearing etc. You have been warned!<strong>

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><p>"Uaargh!" Lilac screamed as she hurled the bed at the metal man, knocking him backwards and cracking the door frame behind him. She roared and ran forward, punching and kicking wildly at the man as he lay sprawled on the floor. Lilac's knuckles were shredded and bleeding from hitting metal over and over again, but the tough metal soot had taken no damage. She knew she wouldn't last long in hand-to-hand combat with a metal man, but she had no more makeshift weapons available. She had to think of her next move. The sound of heavy feet running up the stairs caused Lilac to turn her head and look down the hall, missing the crucial moment in which Iron Man landed a blow to her cheek, knocking her across the room.<p>

She crawled to her knees as she cried out in pain. Her whole body was bruised. _I'll survive. I need to keep fighting, _she reassured herself. A tall blonde man in red and blue ran to the doorway of the room, standing beside the robotic man. He stared in horror at Lilac, her bloodied hands and blistered arms, her tattered clothing and scorched wig. Lilac gingerly touched her face. She felt a black-eye forming, perhaps she even had a broken cheekbone. But she'd survived worse before. Hell, she'd inflicted worse before.

The blonde man shuffled towards Lilac's kneeling form, his arms extended pleadingly. His lips were moving, as though he were talking. Maybe he was speaking too softy, or the ringing in Lilac's ear was too loud, but no words could have made a difference. _There is no fucking way I am reasoning with you. _Lilac ran at the blonde man, pushing away his extended hands with two quick blows. He made no attempt to fight her, eyeing her dubiously as she snarled like a feral animal, her eyes quick and flinty like a caged foxes'. Lilac knew with two men blocking the door, there was no way she could fight her way through.

Quick footsteps echoed through the silent house, moving closer, up the stairs. Lilac stepped backwards, watching through the doorway as a large man with an over-sized hammer in his hands reached the top of the stairs, with another smaller man close behind.

_Oh, fuckey fuck fuck. There's four of them. I can't fight them all. _Lilac turned and ran further into the bedroom and towards the en-suite with super-human speed. Steve and Tony shared a confused look, whilst Hawkeye ran furiously after the girl. He nocked an arrow and attempted to steady his aim but Lilac's wild and injured movements made it impossible to determine a good shot.

Lilac ran faster, she was headed for the window on the far wall of the bathroom. Her booted feet slapped against the floor, her breath came in laboured gasps, and she knew there was only one way out. She jumped, launching herself at the glass window. A terrible thought flitted through her mind- what if I don't break the glass, what if I bounce back?

Lilac hit the glass hard, cracking it as she flew through and into the night. She knew that a jump from the 3rd storey of a building was unlikely to end without injury, and she began to wonder how best to land. If she hadn't taken the second pill, she would have been thinking, _I'm fucking gonna die. _But Lilac's thoughts on how best to hit the ground came far too late- 3 storeys is not a long fall, and she had reached the ground far too soon.

A sickening wet crunch and a strangled cry simultaneously came from Lilac. Her left foot hit the ground first, it crunched and cracked all the way through her ankle and shin as she hit the ground. She could feel the distinct sensation as each bone cracked.  
>"Aaaaaaowowowow! Jesus <em>Fucking<em> Chirst!" Lilac screamed and rolled backwards to lay on the driveway, her burnt arms sticking to the pebbles as she screeched in pain. The four men on the 3rd floor looked out the window at her shattered and screaming form, grimacing as they watched her pain.  
>"Ooow, aawwweeeyyy, no, no, no, this isn't happening" Lilac cried as she attempted to sit up, wincing as she saw her left leg, puffy and purple, and her foot pointing in the wrong direction. Lilac knew this wasn't the end. She had to keep going. <em>It's just a broken leg, you can do this. You have to get away from these people. They intend to kill you on Max Gun's behalf.<br>_A red-haired woman joined the group of men on the top floor of the building, peering out the window at the sobbing puddle of Lilac.

The group on the top floor- Black Widow, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hawkeye turned towards each other, their faces conveying expressions ranging from condescending, to sympathetic, to confused, to exhausted. Clint wrapped his arm around Natasha's shoulders and remained at the window with her as the other men walked back towards the staircase.  
>"Jump Tasha, follow the crazy girl" called Tony over his shoulder.<br>"Oh no, I'll pass." she replied sarcastically, watching the girl on the driveway squirm as she tried to sit up. Natasha was surprised, most civilians were lame ducks after an injury like that. Natasha and Clint stood and continued to watch the girl as she moved from a sitting position to kneeling, cringing as they watched Lilac scream.  
>"Do you think-" Clint began to ask Natasha as they stared in horror at the injured girl. Natasha interrupted Clint by beginning to speak into her walkie-talkie.<p>

"The girl that jumped out the window has managed to get up and is limping down the drive way. I repeat, she's on the move" Natasha called into her walkie-talkie as she and Clint raced away from the window and down the stairs.  
>"I'm on it" replied Tony, propelling himself through the front door of the house.<p>

Lilac limped over to the car, her jaw clenched to stop her screaming with every step she took. _Help, _she cried internally, to no-one in particular. She just wanted to be saved. Lilac yanked the car door open and fell heavily into the expensive vehicle. She ripped the mangled purple wig off her head and pulled down the car's sun-visors to look for the car keys. _No, no, where are they! _Lilac checked the glove box, the console and the crannies of the driver's side door put the keys weren't there. _Oh no. Oh fuck no. _

Lilac angled the rear-view mirror to look back at the house. She could see the metal man running towards the car, followed by a green giant. Lilac crawled awkwardly out of the car, balancing on her right leg as she tore the car door from the car body with her super-human strength. She limped down the driveway, her burnt arms struggling with the door, her leg causing her agony.

"I think we all just need to take a deep breath" the metal man said softly as Lilac got closer to him, "You seem to be in a bit of pain, and we-"  
>"Do I look like I ordered a glass of your fucking opinion?", Lilac screamed at the metal man as she swung the car door at him, sending him sprawling into the hedge. She continued alternating between hopping and dragging as she inched closer to the green giant, feeling invincible with the car door in her hands.<p>

"I'll fucking gut you!" she screamed at the giant, swinging the door at him fearlessly. He was only a few feet in front of her. The giant reached down towards Lilac.  
>"Don't you fucking touch me!" she screamed as it wrapped it's hand around her body. She took a solid swing at the giant's hand with the car door, but it bounced straight out of her hands on impact.<br>"Aagh!" Lilac screeched as she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Her upper body was thrown back by the impact, her head slamming against the giant's wrist. She looked down awkwardly her shoulder. There was an arrow protruding from it, though it hadn't penetrated very deep and wasn't bleeding much.

"You fucking missed!" Lilac called to no one in particular. She wriggled one of arms out of the giants grasp and yanked the arrow from her shoulder, hissing as it ripped through her skin. She frowned as she saw the arrow head, it was very small and sharp, not at all large enough to do any damage if it wasn't shot straight through the heart or through the brain. Lilac hefted the arrow in her hand. It was too light to make either of those shots effectively.

Lilac squirmed in the giant's grasp, beginning to kick and scream as she thrashed around. She couldn't think of a plan to escape, her brain was becoming foggy. Lilac felt her eyelids drooping and her limbs becoming heavier and harder to move.  
>"Shouldn't she be out by now?" Lilac heard a woman's voice ask. It took Lilac a moment to process what the woman had said. <em>The arrow wasn't meant to kill me, it was meant to tranquilize me. <em>  
>"I think she took the super-powers drug" replied the man's voice. Lilac's heart was racing. <em>No, I can't sleep, they'll get me.<em>

"Furck yoou" Lilac slurred and bit down hard on the giant's hand, his thick, hot blood filling her mouth. She gagged at the taste of it.  
>"Yoou'll ne'er fucken get me, I'll fucken kill y'all" Lilac gasped as she slumped forward and began vomiting up a mixture of after-dinner cocktails and the giant's blood. The foul smelling red liquid oozed into her clothing and stung her burnt arms. She wheezed and her voice cracked as she began to howl, tears streaming down her face as she realized there was no chance of escape.<p>

Using her last burst of energy, Lilac stabbed the arrow (from her shoulder) into the giant's hand. He bellowed and squeezed her tighter, grinning as she cried. Lilac could feel her broken bones grinding together in her leg, burnt arms being constricted, skin ripping and bleeding as he crushed her.  
>"You'll never get me alive" Lilac cried, as her body slumped forwards when the tranquiliser took effect. Her head hung awkwardly to the side.<br>The Hulk lowered Lilac to the ground, rolling her body from his hand onto the driveway. She lay, unmoving, her face pressed into the concrete and pebbles.

Tony nudged Lilac's body with his foot.  
>"She looks almost, y'know, dead" said Clint, trying to work out if the girl was actually breathing.<br>"I think this operation was a little too far on the aggressive side" Natasha frowned as she thought back over the course of the violent evening.  
>"Even so, I can see why Fury was so concerned about the drug" Bruce reasoned, he was back in human form. The group nodded.<br>"Ok Tony" Natasha said in a stern tone, "turn out your pockets".

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! So much drama!**  
><strong>Please review!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: swearing.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>"How is she?"<br>"She's going to be fine" said the doctor, his expression one of professional reassurance. Bruce glanced at the door as Natasha walked in. She gave him a reassuring smile and stood beside him.  
>"Bruce, her leg was already very badly broken by the time you grabbed her. Her injuries aren't your fault" Natasha soothed, patting Bruce's shoulder.<br>"I know, I just like to think that I don't just crush people. It doesn't make me feel in control to hear stories like that" Bruce sighed, massaging his temples to try to ward off a stress headache.

Natasha turned to the doctor.  
>"Other than her current injuries, what else can you tell us about her?"<br>"Well" the doctor replied, glancing over his chart, "other than the drugs in her system when she came in, she doesn't seem to have any dependencies, which is strange for a young female in her line of work."  
>"What does that mean?" asked Bruce.<br>Natasha butted in, "It means she wasn't a druggie groupie. She was… important".

Bruce and Natasha looked expectantly towards the doctor for more information. He rolled his eyes.  
>"Well, she's most definitely 'fighting fit'. Her knuckles are, <em>damaged, <em>to say the least from fighting, or training. It's impossible to tell. She also has a large number of pre-existing scars including a gun-shot wound." Natasha nodded calmly, while Bruce looked a little shocked.  
>"She seems too young to be so deep in a criminal organisation" said Bruce, leaning forward to brush the girl's dark hair out of her eyes.<br>"She's not that young" said Natasha, closely analysing the girl's face, "I think it was just the purple wig that did it".

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><p><em>Beep…..…beep..…beep…..…beep.…beep.…beep...beep.. .beebeebeebeep!<em>

Lilac woke from her nightmare with sweaty palms and a racing heart. Her eyes shot open as she tried to calm herself, she had already forgotten what the dream was about. White walls surrounded her and the faint beeping of a heart monitor filler her ears as she tried to remember where she was and how she had arrived here. She felt a twinge of pain in her leg as she turned and realised that her left leg was in a cast up to the knee. Her arms were in tight compress bandages, her hands were patched in small white plasters and her shoulder was covered in a fat gauzy patch

_What? What happened? _Lilac pulled her legs off the side of the bed and pushed herself up, limping towards the pair of crutches leaning against the wall. As she reached for them, the sticky patches on her chest tugged and pulled off, causing the heart monitor to go wild. Lilac hurled herself back across the bed and yanked the heart monitor's power cord out of the wall. She was pleasantly surprised when an alarm didn't go off, but it also struck her as odd. Something was wrong.

She hobbled across the room on her crutches and opened the door. The door opened out into a blue-lit corridor lined with doors just like her own. She began hobbling along, wondering which hospital she was in, when she heard hurried footsteps behind her.  
>"Miss, you're not supposed to be out here" came the panicked voice of a young man dressed in black.<br>"Who are you? Why can't I be out here?" demanded Lilac, giving him her most evil frown.

"Well, you're meant to be under watch, I mean, I just took a toilet break, and you were here, I just;" Lilac cut off the man's ramblings by holding up her hand.  
>"You're telling me I'm meant to be locked in my room, under guard" Lilac smiled. The man nodded, hoping Lilac would return to her room calmly. Lilac pulled her face into an over-wrought expression of contemplation.<br>"Nope" smirked Lilac as she dropped her left crutch and took the right one swiftly in her hands like a baseball bat, swinging it as hard as she could at the guard's head. A sharp crack cut through the quiet of the hallway as the aluminium crutch connected with the man's temple. He crumpled silently to the floor. Lilac called upon her knowledge from action movies and awkwardly dragged the man back into her room so no-one would see him.

Lilac shuffled down the hall on her crutches. She heard a door slide open behind her and shuffled around quickly, meeting the eyes of another black-clad man. He gave her a confused look as he whipped his walkie-talkie of his belt and began to speak into it.  
>"There's a girl with a broken leg in area A6 and she doesn't look like she's meant to be here". The man clipped the walkie-talkie back to his belt.<p>

Lilac stared at him in horror as her memories came flooding back. _Holy fucking shit. I'm in Max Gun's lair. This is bad. They killed all of my people. They're gonna kill me! _The guard could tell Lilac was getting a little panicky,  
>"Ok, there's some people coming, they'll sort this out, okay?" he said, his voice a little shaky as he tried to demonstrate steady breathing to Lilac.<br>"Mother fucker!" Lilac screeched as she swung her crutch at the man's temple. He fell backwards, clutching his head and moaning.

"Uuuarghhhhh" he cried.  
>"You can just shut the fuck up" Lilac hissed as she swung her crutch at his head again whilst he lay on the ground. He crutch hit the hand that was cradling his head with a crunch.<br>"Aaahh!" The guard cried out in pain, grabbing back his hand just in time for Lilac to hit him again in the temple. He slouched back, sprawled on the floor with a large bruise on his face.  
>"I'm gonna fucking die here", Lilac muttered as she slammed her crutch into the man's head one last time, for good measure, and scrambled down the hall.<p>

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><p>Lilac walked slowly, pressing herself close to the walls as she made her way down the hallway. She rounded a corner and saw, to her horror, a man in a white shirt and blue boxers making his way towards her. The man rubbed his eyes and did a double take before he continued to make his way towards her, coming closer until Lilac recognised him. He was there when they captured her. He was the man in the red and blue suit.<p>

Lilac once again lifted her crutch as a weapon, ready to swing at this man's head.  
>"Hey" said the blonde man, his hands up in surrender, "Are you alright?" he asked, trying not to set her off. Lilac shook her head, limping towards him.<br>"Am I _going _to be alright?" she screamed at him as she moved towards him. "You've dragged me here, now what? You gonna kill me, keep me locked up? What the fuck is this place?" she screeched as she took a swing at the man's head.

He ducked, easily avoiding the hit.  
>"Please, I don't want to hurt you" said the man as Lilac took another swing, but he knew it was no use. Lilac was fighting tooth and nail. She was taking dirty hits, fighting for her life, and Steve was blocking them all.<br>"Just fucking die!", Lilac screamed as she drove the rubber end of the crutch into the man's foot and rammed the handle into his nose. He gave a look of sympathy to Lilac, but no amount of pleading looks could stop her. She took a solid swing at his head, and kneed him in the crotch before ramming the rubber end of the crutch into the man's stomach, knocking him back.

Lilac began hobbling back the way she came. Going faster and faster, she could hear voices travelling up the corridor behind her. They were coming for her. Lilac took a step, but found herself being jerked back by her neck. She desperately tried to turn around but her attacker had her in a solid headlock. Lilac shuffled sideways before jerking backwards and slamming her attacker into the wall. Lilac's attacker let out a grunt, but their hold around Lilac's neck only grew tighter.  
>"You can let go now" called out a familiar voice, causing her attacker to release their hold, before shoving Lilac forwards roughly, causing her to overbalance and slam into the floor.<p>

The sound of a single shot echoed down the corridor as Lilac felt a sharp pain in her neck. She reached up, growling as she pulled the barbed dart from her flesh.  
>"You pieces of shit" Lilac yelled at the man with the gun, and the woman standing next to him. She must have been the one who had Lilac in a headlock. Lilac slumped backwards as she drifted into a foggy, dreamless sleep.<br>"Secretly, I'm glad that her fighting wasn't just the super-human drugs" Tony laughed as he reached down and pried the tranquilizer dart from Lilac's hand.

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><p>"… so she knocks them both out and then beats up Steve? How did you people let this happen?" screeched Fury, circling the Avengers, who had been interrupted by his rant whilst eating noodles.<br>"We just need to put someone in her room next time. If nothing else, they can radio in earlier", suggested Natasha, keeping her eyes down as she twirled noodles on her fork. Fury looked around the table, ignoring Natasha's comment. He met the guilty eyes of the other Avengers.

"Oh, I'm sorry Natasha. Were you talking to me, or to your noodles?" Fury yelled, fed up with waiting for someone to speak.  
>"Hey, it's not Natasha's fault. Now we know it wasn't just the drugs, this girl is as brutal as fuck" said Clint, meeting Fury's eyes, something the other Avenger's were usually very scared to do.<br>"Not only is she brutal, but she has skills and experience, if the doctor was right" said Bruce, meeting Natasha's eyes across the table, remembering their trip to speak to the girl's doctor.  
>"So it's decided. We'll put a guard in the room", said Steve, all but volunteering for the job.<p>

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><p><strong>Thanks to everyone who has been reading, or has favourited or followed this story!<strong>

**Please review! I'd love some feedback. :)**


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